cinquedeas

Heavy civilian daggers or short swords of 15th- and 16th-century Italy, characterized by a broad, flat double-edged triangular blade measuring five fingers in width at the hilt, a pair of short, arched quillons, a grip formed of two flat pieces riveted one on each side of the tang, and a pommel that is simply an arched cap fitted over the base of the grip. The blades are fluted and often elaborately decorated on the wider parts.